Investigation of the Natural Occurrence of Aflatoxins in Beans Used as a Raw Material for Bean-jam (“An”) and the Effect of Processing on Their Contents in “An”

Studies on Mycotoxins in Foods. XIII

Abstract

The natural occurrence of aflatoxins in beans used for manufacturing “An” was investigated. Aflatoxins were detected in 11 samples (butter beans, saltani-saltapya beans, etc.) in 610 samples; their contents were 1.3-26.9ppb of B₁ and 0.4-6.9ppb of B₂. We therefore investigated whether aflatoxins remained intact when “An” was prepared from beans naturally contaminated by aflatoxins.
The method of manufacturing “An” was as follows: the beans were boiled for 1.5-2 hours, then the water layer was discarded, removing the lye (twice). The beans were boiled again for 1.5-2 hours and washed with water (3 times), then pressed to remove water.
When “An” was manufactured from beans naturally contaminated by aflatoxins using the above method, 15% of B₁ and 13% of B₂ compared to the original levels in the beans remained in the “An. ”